Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill won't play in Sunday's AFC wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a league source confirmed.
That means Matt Moore will make his fourth straight start as the Dolphins go for their first playoff victory in 16 years.
Tannehill, who completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,995 yards and 19 touchdowns in 13 games this season, sprained the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee Dec. 11 but has opted to not have it surgically repaired.
Tannehill hoped to practice this week as the team prepared for its first playoff game since 2008, but it appears he hasn't been medically cleared to do so.
"Every day, we keep seeing improvement. It's going to be more about, 'Where's his movement at?' Every day it gets a little bit better," coach Adam Gase said on Wednesday. "We'll keep doing what we've been doing with him, and we'll make a decision on [Thursday] as far as what we're going to do at practice."
That decision was to move ahead with Moore, who has a 105.6 passer rating in the four games he's played this season.
Moore's 8.29 yards per attempt is the second highest in the NFL among quarterbacks who have completed 50 or more passes in 2016. The only quarterback he trails is Atlanta's Matt Ryan, who is averaging 9.3 yards per attempt.
Veteran quarterback T.J. Yates, who was signed in mid-December after Tannehill's injury, will continue to serve as Miami's backup.
The diagnosis on Tannehill _ who is slated to make $18 million in 2017, all of which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the league's new year in March _ has been that he doesn't need knee surgery, and shouldn't miss any of the Dolphins' offseason workouts. Gase has said he doesn't want to jeopardize that outlook, and playing Tannehill against the Steelers could cause a setback because of his limited mobility.
